Quoth the Raven....

The Estate, Sidra, Glacia, Wednesday Evening (Fandom Time)

Philia had been begging for a walk, so Raven had taken her dog out into the gardens. Without a leash and collar, of course, because after what Philia had been through, she didn't ever want her to be restrained again. And Philia certainly wasn't vicious. She was still prone to hide from strangers, though she'd slowly warmed to people she'd spent more time with.

Raven took a seat on a bench, lost in thought, as Philia romped about. Nightmares about the future still plagued her rest, though they'd lessened a little since her talk with Hannibal and better understanding the reason behind them. That hadn't necessarily meant she'd actually dealt with it. Mostly she tried to keep herself busy and distracted, which had been recently helped along by Karla giving her responsibility over all the orphanages in Glacia. She'd been planning out visits to each of them so she could inspect the facilities and see that they were safe and clean and the children healthy. Any place that didn't meet her standards would be swiftly put to right.

But she couldn't keep busy all the time, much as she tried, and right now she found herself in need of a new distraction. Maybe she'd visit Fandom for a couple of days. Karla was always telling her to take more breaks, after all, and even if it was August there, that didn't mean something bad was going to happen. Right?

It was mid-spring now, the air warming and the earth waking up, so Karla was spending a great deal of time outside in the gardens, Nemit perched on her shoulder and trilling a bit in her ear while Karla worked the land, or else just sat somewhere and focused on it.

"Kiss kiss," she said quietly, coming up on Raven and Philia. Philia got a quick scritch behind the ears and Nemit bumbled down to play with her--mostly by doing an impression of a drunken bumblebee around Philia's head. Raven got a smile and a nod towards the bench. Would Raven mind if Karla sat? Or would she prefer to be left to meditate?

[In a cabin in Tenneesee, so it will be the most slowest of slowplays!]

"Nope," Karla said, sitting down next to Raven and immediately leaning to rest her head on her friend's shoulder. "My moontime's coming, so I was just out releasing some excess energy from my Jewel into the ground. You know, taking the glorious opportunity to do nothing."

Raven slipped her arm around Karla. "If you had known how busy being Queen would make you, would you have taken another path?" she said teasingly.

Her tone was a little more serious, though, when she asked, "Have you heard from Warren?" The time difference between Glacia and Warren's world meant they shouldn't be alarmed that he'd been gone for so long, she knew, but a little assurance would be nice.

"Can you imagine? We'd all be in college right now. Could you picture us taking courses and exams for four years? Trying to figure out what we wanted to be when we 'grew up'?"

Imagining it, she just shook her head. What would she have been, had she been a normal girl?

"He's been texting me off and on since he got there," Karla confirmed. "More off than on, but that's the time difference for you."

Things in his world weren't going so well, but Karla saw no reason to worry Raven with those details. It didn't matter much, right? He'd be leaving his New York in just a few Kaeleeran days and they wouldn't have to worry about it any more.

"Maybe when he gets home, we'll throw a party or something. Our birthdays are in a few days, Jono's Fandom birthday wasn't that long ago, and I bet Cora and Nyles would love some time in Fandom."

"I think that is a wonderful idea," Raven said. "We have been threatening Jono with a birthday party."

And speaking of Fandom.... "I had been thinking of going to Fandom for a few days anyway," she said. "Just to take some time before I begin to tour the orphanages. I could ask Dr. Lecter if he would still like to host a party if you wish to have it on the island so Cora and Nyles may visit."

"I have only had one meeting with him thus far," Raven said, ducking her head. What she'd learned about herself wasn't exactly completely unobvious, but it still didn't make it easy to talk about.

"As for the orphanages, I have been preparing a schedule to visit each and everyone for inspection," she said. "I intend most to be unannounced so I can be certain they have not tidied up just for me."

"My favorite part of that is how you literally will just show up in a puff of smoke and demand to be given a tour," Karla said, her smile not particularly nice. But then, if there were places taking care of children that weren't up to snuff, they deserved what they got.

And for all of Raven's sweet demeanor and gentle exterior, if she found signs that not all was well, she'd have no problem tearing into them. It would be glorious.

Maybe Jono would do the favor of recording it for Karla if he was going to go along to help her.

"My greatest priority is making certain the children are healthy and safe," Raven said. Woe be to anyone who let the children live in filth and abuse, or hired them out as child labor and pocketed the profits. "After that I would like to do something to help them find family that would be able to take them in, or failing that, people willing to foster children not born their own. Food and shelter may sustain life, but it is love that will allow the children to thrive, and that is my goal."

She wasn't going to do this small. It was quite possible this project was stirring up some residual feelings about how she had been raised, sheltered and fed, but without a mother's love. Without anyone's love.

"Warren has gone home to see his father," Raven said. "He has been gone for quite some time, but that is normal apparently. Time in his world moves much more slowly than it does in Glacia. Oh, and Karla has put me in charge of all of Glacia's orphanages. That will keep me busy for some time."

Raven glanced over to Philia to make sure she was still in sight, not that she expected her to wander too far.

"I am making plans to visit each and every one," she said. "I will inspect them and see if any improvements need to be made, and make sure they have the resources to do so. And I will speak to the children to make certain they are treated well. If I learn they have not been, then I will replace those responsible with people I can trust."

And woe to anyone who abused their position or the children they were to care for.

"Awww, you miss me?" Dinah grinned. "Maybe we'll drag Priestly along too, it's been a while since he visited, and he's living in New Gotham now, so. Well, assuming he's not having to do something for school."

"I am not entirely certain, and he is not saying," Raven said. "The time changes make everything so confusing." Fandom, Glacia, his world, any other world he'd visited -- Raven just stuck to Fandom time mainly as the constant.